Compactible and foldable Drop shop building

ABSTRACT

A portable building formed from transportation containers that are unloaded and connected together to form modular building units. The building units have roof parts that unfold to connect to one another, to form a building, with openings, and with a roof, sized according to a number of modular units that have been attached together.

This application claims priority from Provisional application No. 63/200,815, filed Mar. 30, 2021, the entire contents of which are herewith incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

There is a need to provide buildings in temporary locations. For example, such temporary buildings can be used for repair locations, medical locations, and the other uses.

Many attempts have been made to address homelessness with temporary buildings.

The difficulties of such buildings include set up and take down, as well as transportation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The inventor recognized the need for a modular, rapidly deployable, mobile building.

In an embodiment, the building can be used as a mobile shop for the automotive and diesel industry. Embodiments use shipping containers or “Conex boxes” for the base, modified to have a pop up roof and floor.

Embodiments describe use of a custom cone, configured to have a floor and roof, and to connect to another adjoining custom cone to form a double wide building in between the custom cones, having a floor and a roof.

These buildings can be used for any purpose.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the Drawings:

The figures show aspects of the invention, and specially:

FIG. 1 illustrates a building created using the present embodiments;

FIG. 2 shows a section of the building and its roof line;

FIG. 3 shows a building section with the roof partially folded;

FIG. 4 shows a further folding of the roof section;

FIG. 5A illustrates another embodiment, showing doorways that can be added to the modular system;

FIG. 5B illustrates more details of the doorways;

FIG. 6A illustrates formation of the building from multiple different sized modular boxes;

FIG. 6B illustrates details of the roof adapter;

FIG. 7 illustrates folding and unfolding of the roof section;

FIG. 8 illustrates a floor section.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present application describes a modular and deployable building. An embodiment forms the building using a metal shipping container formed of structural metal, e.g, corrugated metal. These shipping containers are often called intermodal containers, or “conex boxes”.

FIG. 2 illustrates the different parts of a modular unit used for forming buildings, and also shows the modular the unit and its unfolded condition. Multiple ones of these units are placed together to form the overall building structure shown in FIG. 1 .

The building side is formed of a single 40 foot Conex 200 having a floor section 210 which is hinged to a bottom section of the box 209. That is, the floor 210 can hinge relative to the front section 231. FIG. 5 , for example, illustrates how the floor section 210 hinges up to cover the front section 231.

There is also a roof section, 220, which hinges at the 2 sections 222 at the top of the front portion 231 and 223. The hinged roof section can hinge in two different parts, to have a first part 220 that folds flat on top of the top surface 251, see FIG. 3 . A second roof section 230 hinges at 223 to fold flat on top of the first section 220 see FIG. 4 .

FIG. 2 shows how the roof section 220, 230 folds out, so that the section 220 becomes vertical and the section 230 forms an angle for the pitch of the roof. This section 230 will meet with another section 230 of an adjoining Conex box as shown in FIG. 1 and explained herein. Note that as in the FIG. 1 embodiment, the roof section includes a vertical section 220, and the sloping roof section 230.

Note both also that there are multiple different openings 205, 206 in one side of the Conex, that is facing towards the floor 210, so that the floor covers the area adjoining the openings 205, 206. The end surface 240 and rear surface 250 are all solid, thus forming solid walls on all the surfaces except the surfaces with openings 205, 206.

FIG. 3 shows the vertical wall section 220 being folded across the top surface 300 of the Conex box 200.

FIG. 4 shows the roof section 230 is folded down on top of the vertical wall section 220.

In operation, the unit is assembled in the completely opposite direction, first the floor 210 is folded up. Then, the roof and vertical wall are both unfolded 220 and 230, into the position shown in FIG. 2 . These are connected to corresponding roof wall and floor sections from another oppositely facing Conex box such as the box 150 in FIG. 1 facing to the box 110 in FIG. 1 .

To disassemble, the floor folds up against the front of the building at the entrance to each section. The roof folds down into the top of the Conex in a Z pattern. See for example 120 which shows how the roof is hinged on the hinge 121 to fold down.

In embodiments, the vertical roof wall and the roof are both articulated using hydraulic rams.

FIG. 1 illustrates a structure formed from multiple modified conex boxes/intermodal shipping containers, which have been modified and unfolded in the specified way as described herein. Multiple ones of the modified shipping containers can be put together in the specified way in order to form a single structure from the multiple connected units. In an embodiment, these are made from Conex boxes however, they can be formed from any kind of structural rectangular shipping container.

In an embodiment, the Conex box as modified to form openings in one side, and hinged floor in that one side, and two hinged roof parts to another side, is unfolded as in FIG. 2 .

The rear part 100 of the structure phone shown in FIG. 1 is formed from 2 Conex boxes of 2×40′ with the roof and floor folded out as described herein. The front part 110 comprises a 2×20′ Conex box with the roof and floor folded out. The end parts of the pitched roofs bolt together forming a single solid building.

Each end of the building can have HD curtains that enclose the section. Alternatively, this can use folding steel doors.

Since the system is modular, additional units can be added side to side, to change the desired length, can stack on top of each other to provide additional height, e.g. for taller vehicles, and added also to change the building width.

In other embodiments, the system is used to form a building out of multiple different modular parts. FIG. 5 shows an expanded view of the parts. The main box 500 is a 40 foot Conex box. The Conex box 500 has openings on multiple different sides. There are a number of doorway devices 505 each of which are the same size, to maintain the different door options. The folding roof system 510 uses a similar roof to that shown in the previous embodiments. The roof system 510 is connected to roof adapters 515 which connect between the top of the box and the roof system, and facilitate the folding.

The utilities assembly 520 holds a pre-wired and plumbed system for air, water, telecom, HVAC, and power set up. A number of doors and walls 525, 530 can be used on the rear side of the device. There can also be a fold down floor system, as described herein.

The doorframes such as 505 are each formed by structures of a set size. Each of the door openings in each of the boxes are identical, so that the doorframes such as 505 can be used with any size box. Each doorframe includes a front piece 506, and a rear piece 507 that attaches to the door opening. 2 side pieces 508 and 509 form side support for the doorframes. These doorframe pieces connect together for example using bolting, and enable connecting any of the doors into the doorframe.

The door options, shown in further detail in FIG. 5B, include a rolldown door 525, a half wall adapter 530, a window adapter 535 that forms a closure with a barred window 536 within the closure, a door that has a swing mobile and hinged door 541, and finally a wall adapter 545 that simply closes the opening.

The utility adapter 520 includes quick disconnects that match and mate with every combination of buildings described herein. The attachment points for the utility device include attachment points 521 and 522. In an embodiment, the attachment devices are freestanding, so they include structural parts 550, 551 forming legs that hold the utility adapter upright where the upper connection bar 549 stays in place relative to connection parts on the main building box 500. In particular, the connection part 521 mates to a corresponding connection part 523 on the main building and the connection part 522 mates to a corresponding connection part 524 on the main building.

In addition, there are additional structural parts such as 552 that is located to correspond with a wall 553 between the openings 554 555 in the main building 500. These further facilitate the freestanding nature of the utility adapter 520.

FIG. 6 shows another embodiment, usable with any of the previous embodiments, in which multiple different structural boxes 500, 600, 610 are combined together to form any desired size modular building. In FIG. 6 , the box 500 is used as a 40 foot box. The box 500 is coupled with a 20 foot box 600, and a 10 foot box 610. Of course, all the different boxes can be used in multiple different sizes.

The boxes bolt together at their connection points in order to form a modular building of any desired size. Each of the boxes such as 500, 610 are open at their end walls. 500 is open at the area 620, and hence can mate with corresponding opening 621 in the side of box 610. Box 600, and all the other boxes all also have corresponding sidewall openings at their sides, thus allowing the boxes to be placed together to make a longer building.

In addition, the boxes can face one another, with their sidewall openings 622 facing to the sidewall opening 623 of the box 500, to make a wider building.

All the sidewall openings and all the end wall openings are of the same size. This enables putting any of the modular wall/door panels into any of the openings, and attaching any opening of any box of any size to any other opening of any box of any size, to form has structure of any desired size and shape.

In addition, each of the boxes includes a roof section of a size that matches to the box itself. The 40 foot box 500 includes a 40 foot roof section 510, connected to the roof adapter 515. In a similar way, the 20 foot box 600 includes a 20 foot roof section 601, and the 10 foot box 610 includes a 10 foot roof section 611. Each of the boxes have door openings which match with any other box, so that any box can be used for any sized box with any other box.

FIG. 6B illustrates details of the roof adapter 515. Normally, there is a gap between the corners of the containers, and the roof. The adapter 515 is a 10 foot section of flat material, e.g, steel, that includes swivel mechanisms, both male swivel mechanisms 650 and female swivel mechanisms 660. These mechanisms enable attaching of the roof sections. An extension panel 665 is used to attach other sections so that the roof panel can be made longer to fit 20 foot boxes and 40 foot boxes. The roof adapters of both the top of the container, and weatherstripping is used between the container and adapter to weatherproof it. The roof panels themselves swivel on the swivel mechanisms 650 and 660.

FIG. 7 illustrates how each roof piece folds and unfolds. The roof is shown folded flat in 700, unfolded in 705; even further unfolded in 710 further unfolded in 715, and in 720 to its final unfolded position at 725. The unfolded position in 725 is similar to the position shown in FIG. 6 , where the roof piece forms a pitched roof that connects to another roof piece.

Another embodiment of a floor is shown in FIG. 8 , which shows a solid floor piece 900 with an optional drain system 905. In alternative embodiments, a solid floor or a slatted floor can alternatively be used.

The above describes using the system for automotive purposes, however it could also be used for medical purposes such as a temporary medical building or vaccination station, or an Office, Restroom, Power Pack—Generator, Air Compressor, Hydraulics, and/Or Oil Room. It can be used for other Shop Uses: such as a Mobile PM Shop, a Mobile Shop, a Mobile Paint Booth, or a Mobile Equipment Wash.

The previous description of the disclosed exemplary embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present invention. Various modifications to these exemplary embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A temporary building system forming a building with an interior space, comprising: a modular rectangular container, having a shorter side and a longer side forming a rectangle, the container having walls, and having openings in the walls at spaced intervals, each of the openings being the same size, the shorter side having a single opening therein, the longer side, having multiple of the openings therein, spaced at every specified distance, a plurality of different opening elements, each opening element being a same size as one of the openings, the opening elements including all of a rolling door that rolls up and down, a hinged door that forms a hinged door that opens and closes, a half wall adapter that forms a half wall, a window adapter, that includes a window, and a closed wall adapter that completely closes the opening, where the building system includes a second modular rectangular container, connected to the modular container, herein the first modular container, the second modular container attached to the first modular container to extend a size of the building formed by the first modular container, and the second modular container; a roof attachment module, attached to an edge of the first modular container, and holding a roof section that folds between a flat position where the roof is completely flat against a flat top surface of the first modular container and an open position where the roof is unfolded relative to the first modular container and covers an inside portion of at least a part of the first modular container.
 2. The system as in claim 1, further comprising a utilities set up part, attached to the longer side of one of the first container, the utilities attachment part receiving utilities including at least all of air, water, heating air conditioning, and power, to provide utilities to the interior space of the building.
 3. The system as in claim 2, wherein the utility set up part is a freestanding part, which is a free standing part that stands on its own.
 4. The building system as in claim 3, wherein the building system comprises the modular rectangular containers side-by-side with the longer sides adjacent to one another and attached to one another, to form a double wide building, and where the utility set up part creates utilities for the entire building.
 5. The building system as in claim 4, wherein the roof attaches to one side of a first of the rectangular containers and to another side of the second of the rectangular containers and forms a roof peak in a space between the one side and the other side of the rectangular containers.
 6. The building system as in claim 4, wherein a first roof section attaches to the one side of the first of the rectangular containers to form a first roof section which is horizontal, and a second roof section which extends from the first roof section at an angle relative to the horizontal.
 7. The building system as in claim 6, where a second roof section attaches to the other side of the second of the rectangular containers, having a first roof section which is horizontal, and a second roof section which extends from the first roof section at an angle relative to the horizontal, and where the second roof section of the second of the rectangular containers forms a roof peak relative to and with the second roof section of the first of the rectangular containers.
 8. The building system as in claim 3, wherein the building system comprises the modular rectangular containers with the shorter sides adjacent to one another and attached to one another, to form a double long building, and where there are utilities set up parts extending across an entirety of the building.
 9. The building system as in claim 1, wherein the utility set up part includes legs which extend from a set up part, at that mates with the top part of the container, to a floor, and the legs separate openings in the utility set apart, which are matched in size to the openings in the side of the modular rectangular container, and the utility set apart includes a first horizontal part attached to a top part of the utility set up part, leading to a second vertical part which is parallel to which extends vertical and is parallel to but spaced from an area of the wall to make the utility set up part freestanding.
 10. The building system as in claim 1, wherein the first modular container is a different size and the second modular container.
 11. The building system as in claim 1, wherein the first modular container is a 40 foot container, and the second modular container is a 20 foot container.
 12. The building system as in claim 11, wherein the roof section is a 10 foot roof section, and the first modular container includes 4 of the 10 foot roof sections, and where the roof sections include coupling sections which couple two adjacent 10 foot roof sections one to the other.
 13. The building system as in claim 1, wherein the roof section includes a flat section, and the flat section includes swivel part which enables the roof to swivel relative to the flat section. 